The Boston Bruins found themselves without their No. 2 center David Krejci early in Monday, Sept. 23’s preseason game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
After an awkward collision with the Flyers’ Shayne Gostisbehere, David Krejci left the ice in an effort to prevent further aggravation of what was later reported by the Boston Bruins to be a lower-body injury.
Krejci took the rest of the game to recuperate and did not practice with the team the following day.
The play where David Krejci was injured seems to be a classic case of leg/groin area over-extension. Gostisbehere, while attempting to clear the puck out of the Flyers net, skates to follow the play and unfortunately catches Krejci right at the hip, causing Krejci’s left leg to drag back while the rest of his body moves forward.
This appears to be where David Krejci got hurt pic.twitter.com/XdLX6e2AdC
— Evan Marinofsky (@EvanMarinofsky) September 24, 2019
Before horror and hysteria could set in at the thought of losing David Krejci long-term, Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy was sure to clear the air regarding Krejci’s status both immediately after the game and following practice on Tuesday.
He said this during the media scrum on Tuesday:
"“I don’t think right now that it’s anything serious, but we’re going to take our time with it for sure. We want to make sure he’s ready to go [for the regular season].” – Bruce Cassidy, as reported by Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports Boston"
Cassidy said that Krejci would be re-evaluated on Wednesday to make sure that the initial “nothing serious” diagnosis would stand. Given his emphasis on getting Krejci ready for the regular season, Boston Bruins fans shouldn’t be too surprised if Krejci sits out the last two preseason games.
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Which leaves us with two interesting conundrums: who can sub for David Krejci short-term, and should the lower-body injury be all that serious, who will the Boston Bruins look to fill the 2nd center role?
What with Patrice Bergeron still on the mend from his groin injury (though apparently close to returning to the lineup), the Bruins look a little lost on the center front now that we have to face the possibility of Krejci out as well.
The empty spot could be prime real estate for hometown boy Charlie Coyle, but both Haggerty and 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson feel as though Coyle moving up a line might spell disaster for the Bruins’ third and fourth lines.
Should Coyle get moved up, it’ll be open season on the third- and fourth-line center roles. Candidates for those roles include respectable fourth-liner Sean Kuraly and some of the higher-profile prospects dueling for spots on the Bruins’ Opening Night roster such as Trent Frederic or Jack Studnicka.
However, it’s hard to tell whether any of those aforementioned three players are ready to take on that elevated work load, and it might be dangerous if the Bruins are forced to spend the first months of the regular season constantly tinkering. Kuraly’s good where he is now, and Frederic and Studnicka would most likely benefit from more time to develop.
I’m generally an advocate for waiting things out and not sweating the small stuff, but if Krejci’s out long-term then the stuff might not be so small after all.